ART RETREAT IN GOZO, LED BY BRITISH ARTIST PETE CODLING.

4-10 SEPTEMBER, 2026 | 15 PARTICIPANTS.
7 SPOTS LEFT

PRIVATE ROOM €1,950.
SHARING RATE €1,650.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT WITH JUST €750
PAY THE REMAINING BALANCE LATER

The 2026 edition takes place in the Gozitan village of Xagħra, during its biggest annual celebration.

Join us for five days of art-making, with the chance to explore streets as they come alive with the kind of festivities that only happen once a year.

RETREAT TO ART

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ALE, ART & ALTARS

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SEPTEMBER 2026

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XAGHRA, GOZO

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RETREAT TO ART - ALE, ART & ALTARS - SEPTEMBER 2026 - XAGHRA, GOZO -

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

Accommodation
Six nights at Hotel Cornucopia in Xagħra, Gozo, on a bed and breakfast basis.

Airport Transfers
Return transfers between Malta International Airport and Gozo

Artist Led Studio Programme
Daily studio sessions led by Pete Codling, working primarily in charcoal, pen and paper. Sessions include structured prompts, shared discussion and opportunities for group reflection as work develops. Participants will collaborate with Pete on a large-scale piece connected to the village festa, with each participant taking a section of the finished work home with them.

Lunches
Two communal lunches hosted at the Bored Peach Club. All other meals are at leisure, giving you the freedom to explore local dining.

Materials
All drawing and painting supplies for the sessions will be provided.

Welcome Pack
A welcome pack provided on arrival, offering practical information about the programme and village, alongside a small selection of thoughtful items chosen to support and mark the week together.

Organisation and Production
Full retreat coordination, including local logistics, scheduling and on-site support.

SINGLE PRIVATE RATE | From June 2026
€1,950 per person

SHARING RATE | From June 2026
€1,650 per person

DEPOSIT
€750 to confirm a place, remaining balance due one month before the retreat begins

PRICING

BOOK NOW

View of historic buildings and a church dome in a sunny street, framed by ornate decorations hanging overhead.

THE FULL PROGRAMME

Morning & Afternoon
Arrival to Gozo and transfer to Xagħra.
Hotel Check in.
Time to settle and begin exploring.

Evening
Group gathering in the village piazza.
Welcome drink and intros at Rubble Bar.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel.

First morning session at the Bored Peach Club with Pete Codling introducing the festa's visual language through observation and contemporary reinterpretation. Floor is open to begin experimentation!

Lunch
Communal lunch at the Bored Peach Club.
Afternoon
Visit to the festa warehouse to observe craftsmanship across mediums and actively take part in the preparations for the grand celebration ahead. Fabrics are cut, structures assembled, and ornaments created.
Evening
Dinner at leisure. Take the opportunity to experience the anticipation in Victory Square as locals continue setting up for the festivities with rehearsals and ornamental set up.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel.

Second morning session at the Bored Peach Club centred around altar structure, iconography and the language of devotion and display. We experiment with drawing, composition and material exploration.

Afternoon
Trip to Victoria (also known as Rabat), the capital of Gozo and home to the ancient Citadel. We embark on a slow exploration of cobbled streets, open bastions and layers of historical curiosities.
Evening
Dinner at leisure, with an informal gathering in Victory Square for those who wish to continue the conversation.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel.

Visit to Ġgantija Temples, some of the oldest free-standing stone structures shaped by ancient rituals (and giants, as the folklore goes). We pause to shift our attention from ornament and movement to structure and continuity.
Lunch
Communal lunch at the Bored Peach Club.

Afternoon
Back to the studio for an open working session with Pete, to develop your personal reflection on the week's encounters through your media of choice.
Evening
Dinner at leisure.
Optional walk through the village to see developments as the days narrow towards celebration.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel.

We take to the square as final preparations take shape and the village shifts from preparation towards performance.
Lunch

Lunch at leisure.

Afternoon
Return to Bored Peach Club for a closing session of reflection on your week's work and how the experience has shaped response. Pete facilitates the conversation around process, attention and the relation between art and public life by drawing threads between the studio and the village.
Evening
The Festa Marija Bambina begins! Fireworks mark the sky, music fills the square, the villagers gather - and you're part of it all. Experience the celebration from within the crowd - the cumulation of the week's observations, realised in public form.
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
Transfers to the ferry and onward travel.
After a week shaped by studio practice, shared conversation and immersion in village life. the retreat closes quietly, with space for what has unfolded to continue beyond the island.

An artist with a beard and glasses, wearing a blue jacket, sitting on scaffolding in front of a large detailed black and white mural featuring faces, animals, and historical figures. Various art tools are on a wooden table nearby.

MEET YOUR LEAD ARTIST, PETE CODLING

Pete Codling is a British multidisciplinary artist working across drawing, installation and site-responsive practice. His work explores repetition, scale, material tension and the dynamics of public space, often examining how collective experience shapes
visual form.

Pete was an Artist in Residence at the Bored Peach Club in Gozo, where he developed work in close response to the island’s architecture, ornament and ritual atmosphere. That residency forms the foundation of his involvement in Retreat to Art.

For the 2026 edition, Pete leads the studio programme while working alongside participants throughout the week. He introduces prompts, shares his working process and remains actively engaged in the studio as ideas develop. His approach encourages experimentation, attentiveness and responsiveness to place.

See Pete's work

A RETREAT DURING
FESTA WEEK

Across Malta and Gozo, festa week is a village-wide celebration dedicated to a patron saint, where religious rituals unfold alongside days of preparation, decoration, music, and fireworks. Xagħra, Gozo gradually shifts in the days leading up to its celebration of Marija Bambina in September. Streets are filled with colour, workshop garages come alive as fireworks are assembled and decorations perpared, and band clubs animate the evenings.

Retreat to Art 2026: Ale, Art & Altars unfolds within this momentum, where work and shared energy develops alongside dedication, craft, and public life.

Decorative banners hanging above a street with historic buildings, one of which has a domed tower with a cross on top, under a partly cloudy sky.

Decorative flags and banners with religious and heraldic symbols, including cherubs and a painting of a saint, displayed outdoors against a clear blue sky with street lamps and string lights.

Bald man taking a photograph with a camera in a crowded outdoor setting with tents and decorative buildings in the background.

Crowd of people celebrating a festival or event in a city square with religious banners and statues of saints, ornate decorations, and buildings in the background.

People sitting at outdoor tables on a street, with a festive parade in the background, including colorful floats and costumes, under a bright blue sky.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

It's a great location, beautiful building and context. Organisation was smooth with a complete freedom to create.

Loved it all!

— Anna Horvath, HU.

Expanding. Kind. Exciting. Ambitious.

— Thomas Buckley, UK.

THE VILLAGE

Xagħra is one of Gozo's most historically layered villages.

Its sprawling Ġgantija Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to around 3600BC, sit next door to the Basilica of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, whose dome dominates the village's skyline. The surrounding landscape extends to Ramla Bay's vibrant red sand shoreline, and the island's limestone geological display at sites like Xerri's Grotto.

At its heart, Pjazza Vittorja boasts cafés, bars and gathering spaces, which become the focal point of village life especially during festa week.

Retreat to Art offers a studio space within this environment, allowing history, ritual and landscape to remain ever present.

YOUR STAY AT CORNUCOPIA HOTEL

Set above a quiet valley on the edge of Xagħra, the Cornucopia is the perfect setting for slow mornings and space to reset between studio sessions and time out and about.

FACILITIES

The hotel features outdoor pools, shaded terraces and communal spaces within a relaxed ambience.

LOCATION

The village square is a short walk away, placing cafés, restaurants and everyday village life within easy reach. Historical sites, beaches and the countryside are
also close by.

A hotel room with two beds, each with white towels rolled on blue bed runners, a small television on a wooden stand, framed pictures on the beige wall, a mirror, a desk with a mirror, a wall-mounted telephone, and a doorway leading to another room

Swimming pool area at a hotel with white umbrellas, lounge chairs, and a multi-story building in the background under a blue sky with some clouds.

Interior of a lounge area with wooden floors, red and green cushioned chairs, wicker furniture, a potted plant, stone walls, arched doorways, and a ceiling fan.

Exterior view of the Cornucopia Hotel, a historic stone building with arched windows, balconies, and decorative signs, surrounded by greenery and flower beds under a clear blue sky.

A cozy lobby with archways, stone accents, and pastel armchairs with floral patterns, large windows with blue-green frames, and a potted plant.

FAQs

The studio programme works primarily in charcoal, pen and paper. Sessions are structured around prompts and shared discussion, with space to experiment and develop your own response to the week's encounters.
Alongside your personal studio work, participants will collaborate with Pete on a large-scale piece connected to the village festa. This work will be created collectively during the week and will form part of the public celebration. Each participant will take a section of the finished piece home with them.
All materials are provided.
Please visit the booking page, once you pay the deposit a member of our team will be in touch. If you would like to speak to us before purchasing, please send us an email on pat@vonpeach.com We’d be happy to jump on a call with you.
Retreat to Art is open to anyone. Participants may be established artists, early in their creative journey, or returning to art after time away. All are welcome.
The programme supports different levels of experience and a wide range of mediums. What matters is curiosity, attentiveness and a willingness to take part in a shared studio environment.
The group remains intentionally small to allow space for focus, conversation and exchange across varied backgrounds and approaches.
The group is intentionally limited to approximately 15 participants. This scale supports concentration within the studio while maintaining space for conversation and shared reflection.
The size allows each participant to work with independence while remaining part of a connected and active environment.
Participants stay at the Cornucopia Hotel in Xagħra, Gozo. Set above a quiet valley overlooking Marsalforn Bay, the hotel is within walking distance of the village square and the Ġgantija Temples.
Its location allows easy movement between studio, village life and open landscape, keeping the retreat fully embedded in its surroundings.
The fee includes six nights of accommodation at the Cornucopia Hotel, daily studio sessions at the Bored Peach Club, all programmed activities and site visits outlined in the itinerary, selected communal meals, airport transfers between Malta and Gozo, and core studio materials provided for the week.
Flights to Malta, personal travel insurance, meals outside those specified in the programme, and any personal expenses are not included.
Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel to Malta and ensuring appropriate insurance cover.
The remaining balance is due one month before the experience.
Shared rooms may be available on request, subject to participant numbers and suitable pairing arrangements.
Participants arrive at Malta International Airport. From there, travel continues by ferry to Gozo.
Airport transfers and onward transport to Xagħra will be arranged in advance as part of the retreat logistics. Details will be shared prior to arrival to ensure a smooth journey.
No. Xagħra is easily walkable, and many parts of Gozo can be reached by public transport or taxi.
Car rental is optional and may offer greater flexibility for those who wish to explore the island independently outside of the retreat programme.